Campbell River house target of what is believed to be a fire bombing

People staying in a Campbell River home are lucky to be alive after what is believed to be a Molotov cocktail was thrown at their front door early Monday morning.

“They heard a loud bang,” a relative of the house’s owner said. “It sounded like a gunshot.”

The Campbell River Mirror is complying with a request to not identify the home owner for safety reasons.

The incident occurred on South Alder Street around 2 a.m. and the house was occupied by visiting friends who grabbed a garden house to put out the fire. The fire department was called and five police cars arrived, the relative told the Mirror.

Campbell River RCMP said, “Attending fire officials and police determined that the fire was deliberately set. This is the third similar instance over the past year at the location and clearly was a targeted event.”

“The actions of those responsible are of very serious concern, if the fire was not discovered at the time the potential existed for the loss of lives,” Sgt. Troy Beauregard said. “The matters are being actively investigated.”

The fire department did a thorough walk-through of the house with an infra-red camera to ensure there was no fire anywhere else.

The residents were sleeping at the time and did not hear a thing until the explosion.

“The whole house would have burned down,” the relative said.

The house was just recently purchased by the owner who has no connection with the previous owner. There is concern that the perpetrators do not know that the house has new owners.

Police confirmed that: “The current occupants at the address are new to the home and not the target of the attack,” Beauregard said.

Meanwhile, the home owner is not currently staying in the house.

“It’s a traumatic experience to have your house fire bombed,” the relative said.

Police are asking anyone with information about this crime to contact the Campbell River RCMP at 250-286-6221.